Yannick Huot
The Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) presents the Ramón Margalef Award for Excellence in Education to a scientist or educator to recognize innovations and excellence in teaching and mentoring students in the fields of limnology and oceanography. The 2023 Margalef Award will be given to Dr. Yannick Huot, whose leadership of the NSERC Canadian Lake Pulse network (more commonly known as “LakePulse”) secured the support, training, and mentorship of several large cohorts of undergraduate and graduate students as well as post-doctoral fellows within a unique multidisciplinary platform. Dr. Huot will receive his award at the 2023 ASLO Aquatic Sciences Meeting in Palma, Spain in June 2023.
Dr. Yannick Huot is a professor at the Université de Sherbrooke in Québec, Canada. As director of the NSERC-funded LakePulse network, Dr. Huot has led the largest training and mentorship program in limnology ever developed in Canada, providing hands-on training experiences to well over a hundred students, post-docs, and technicians, beyond his own research group. His research spans oceanography and limnology and focuses on several topics such as primary production, photophysiology, optical oceanography, sun-induced fluorescence, and remote sensing.
Recognizing an absence of cohesion in the research goals of limnological groups in Canada, Dr. Huot led the development of LakePulse, the first nationwide survey of lakes across Canada. Students analyze, share, and publish their ecological data under Dr. Huot’s unwavering guidance. The unique collaborative and student led nature of this project is realized at the LakePulse Annual General Meeting. Dr. Huot leads this multi-day meeting, guiding students to problem solve collaboratively, discuss improvements to field protocols, initiate collaborations, as well as facilitating networking opportunities between students and professional agencies.
Dr. Huot’s students note, “In the field, Yannick had a way of bringing out people’s best attributes to give individuals a personal confidence boost and to benefit the balance of the sampling teams. He took on regular sampling roles, helped cook dinners and participated in team social activities. He treated us as equals, and even during one-on-one teaching moments, Yannick had a way of making us feel that he had as much to learn from us as we had from him.”
ASLO President Pat Glibert notes that “Dr. Huot’s bottom-up research approach and commitment to open data sharing have profoundly influenced the careers of innumerable and diverse young scientists. He demonstrates the utmost patience and energy in supporting the development and wellbeing of his mentees that will continue to benefit our community as these young cohorts move into positions of greater responsibility both within Canada and internationally.”